Bomb blasts target Pakistan police in two provinces

Two fatal attacks have been reported just a few days after a Pakistan government ceasefire agreement with outlawed militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan denies that it was behind the attacks.
Reuters Archive

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan denies that it was behind the attacks.

At least two policemen have been killed and another injured along with several civilians in two bomb attacks in Pakistan.

The policemen were killed by an improvised explosive device near the border with Afghanistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday.

“The two policemen were killed in an IED blast that took place at 10 am (0500 GMT),” said Senior Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan of Bajaur district.

The second attack took place on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, where at least one policeman and five civilians, including a young girl and three women, were injured.

The explosives were planted in a motorcycle targeting a police patrol in the area, said a senior police officer Ali Raza.

A local Pakistani Taliban spokesperson denied responsibility for the attacks, saying the militant group will abide by the month-long ceasefire agreed to with the government earlier this week.

READ MORE: What is Pakistan offering this terrorist group in return for peace?

The Pakistani Taliban

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban, which took back control of Afghanistan in August.

The TTP have fought for years to overthrow the Pakistani government and rule the South Asian nation of 220 million with their own brand of Islamic Sharia law.

There have been numerous failed attempts to reach peace agreements between the TTP and the Pakistani government in the past.

The latest talks were opened by Afghanistan’s interim Taliban administration.

The TTP and the Pakistani government have been meeting across the border in Afghanistan with the aid of Afghan Taliban leaders.

READ MORE: Islamabad in talks with groups of Pakistani Taliban, PM Khan reveals

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